But a loophole in planning procedures means nobody in Littleton knew about the Orange mast until it was erected on Wednesday last week.

Under city council policy, only residents living within a 200m radius of rural phone masts are consulted on planning applications. Tarvin Road lies at around 300m from the mast.

Littleton Parish Council was also not consulted because the mast lies on Tile Farm within the Guilden Sutton parish boundary.

Now 37 Tarvin Road residents have signed a letter pledging to fight Chester City Council's decision to let the mast go ahead.

An emergency meeting of Littleton Parish Council has been called for Monday, March 20 to discuss the issue.

Tarvin Road resident Ed Courage said: 'We haven't had any consultation at all, so we have to take it to the next level of appeal - the High Court of England.

'Is that to be the first place that these 37 residents have any right to express their views?'

Mr Courage objected to the city council's blanket policy of consulting residents within 200m of rural mast sites and 100m of urban sites.

He explained: 'I accept they have followed their process to the letter, but their process is completely rubbish.

'Consultation should be proportionate to the size and visibility of the tower. If you are going to put a mast on

some hill in Cheshire, you can't just consult the people living 200m away.'

Chester City Council Development Coordination Manager Brian Hughes met with residents yesterday (Thursday) to discuss their concerns.

He said: 'It's not uncommon for people outside the 200m radius not to be notified. The only effect on people outside that area will be visual, and in terms of planning principles there is no right to retain your view across someone else's land.

'I am confident that we followed the correct process, but if there are lessons to be learned from this we will put those in place.

'If people do believe 200m wasn't sufficient distance we will look at reviewing that, but the difficulty is at what point do you draw the line? There will always be somebody who feels left out.'